dundeeboi82

Hi Kaz, I would assume just the airline standard allowance depending on who you fly with, as the 457 is technically not a permanent residence visa. Hope that helps :biggrin:

Hi Buckydee Afraid not - new rules were published mid-late last year to give people the opportunity to prepare (i.e. get their pets sent out before the January change) and therefore the rabies and time that must pass is mandatory - we got ours vaccinated in December and test in January to allow them to travel in June and only spend the min. 30 days in quarantine. Sorry I can't give any more advice, other than start asking family and friends really nicely!! Oh and get your rabies vaccination done ASAP! :biggrin:

Hi Kayleigh, just sent you a PM, hadn't been in the site for a few days - and yes, nice to hear from folk heading out at same time!! Short term accom is still proving a nightmare (so any help, anyone would be appreciated!!lol), and longer term... well we're going to spend the first few weeks getting our bearings and exploring the place, hopefully we'll get work lined up quite quickly and that'll help us choose where to live, but if I spot a place I love, I'll probably be happy to travel (esp. if they'll accept the Holly and Neko as well!) And Cardiffslim, agree with the OP about not ticking that box....unless they specifically state no pets, I'll assume they may be ok with it - might mean having to put down a larger bond, but so be it - are you going to try and secure a short term 3/4 let after your first week, or you hoping to get something sorted in first week? That could be stressful!! And rammygirl, i agree, cats are far less destructive than kids, although it would have been cheaper to take two kids lol In terms of accommodation, I've also joined a few flatshare type sites - tbh, we'd prefer our own place, but if we got a big enough place we'd probably be happy to share to keep costs down for the first year....plus it's good way to help make friends...hopefully lol Graeme x

Actually Ack....you have any links about the pull out from Dublin? I can only find info on bmibaby changing flights, but can't see anything specifically from Dublin?

Hi Rocketship, our price was direct from Singapore Airlines website - found it cheaper to go through the airlines directly. Also, if you have topcashback or quidco, I think you can get 1% cashback as well....not got it yet so can't confirm!! And Ack....I've just checked and our DUB to LHR is with British Midlands....sh*t lol .... now going to have to make sure it still is going!! More stress I don't need at this moment!lol

Hi Kayleigh! We arrive Melbourne the same day as you - scary how close it's getting now, isn't it??!! We're still looking to get our one month rental sorted, picked out a few places near the CBD, you mind me asking whereabouts you got one? Did you go for a serviced apartment? We're also bringing along our two babies, sorry I mean cats, and too are worried about finding a long term rental - ours will only be in quarantine for one month (out about 22 July), so we need to definitely make sure we have somewhere in place!! After we sold our house here, we took a four month rental to cover us, and decided not to tell the agent about the cats because we couldn't risk not getting the short term let me needed - was pretty nervous at start but don't think much about it any more! Our two our indoor cats as well, so perhaps we could hide them....and agree with one the other posts, unless it specifically says NO PETS then I'll assume they are going to be ok with it!lol Do you know which part of Melbourne you are hoping to settle in? Gx

Oh and we were just over €1400 for two adults, and that included the costs for choosing 'preferred' seating (i.e. emergency exit seats). We are actually up in Northern Ireland but it was cheaper to fly from Dublin because of the exchange rate.....the above exchanged at about £1160, when we tried looking at costs to book just heathrow to melbourne through singapore, it was going to cost £1270!!! Go figure!

tell me about it....only five and a half weeks left and we are nooooowhere near ready, still shippers to book, cats to get booked, CVs to sort, leaving parties....arggghhhhhhh! lol :chatterbox: I had read about Singapore Airlines loads on the forums, so I e-mailed them before booking basically asking them to confirm that if I was travelling on an unvalidated PR visa to Australia, would we would entitled to the increased 40kg baggage at no additional cost. I also asked them to confirm that if I booked from Dublin to Melbourne, all through Singapore airlines, that their partner airline (which can be either Aer Lingus or BMI (i think?)) would also allow us the extra baggage. You should be alright, but I have heard a few others saying they had problems with the local airlines to heathrow, so if you have a piece of paper to wave under their nose it always helps!! Just go to Singapore Airlines and drop them an e-mail to customer services :wink:

we fly out on 20th june from dublin through singapore airlines, best price by far! Also you get 40kg each luggage allowance if you are travelling on an unvalidated PR visa - best to e-mail them and have confirmation in writing in case there's any problems at the airport though! And think we're on the A380's all the way woohoo! lol

Totally agree with other posts in this and your three month update, its so nice to see a few more positive stories coming out!! We fly out to Melbourne one way on 20th June with Singapore, extra leg room tickets booked as well! Looking to get four week serviced apartment - you mind me asking whereabouts yours was? Me and OH are same age as you both (32 & 29) but without the kids, but also fancy more out of the CBD living (Berwick, Mornington, etc), though I'm an architect and he's in IT so might be more job opportunities in the CBD......CVs will be going out shortly so we will just have to wait and see what happens!! Good luck for the next six months as well, I'm sure it will be just as adventurous! Maybe see you in Oz soon! )

Ok, so preferred seating won!! Though we managed to get emergency exit seats on both flights (Heathrow-Singapore Singapore-Melbourne), but was only made to pay for 1 seat on each flight....so ended up at £580 each....a wee brucie bonus lol :biggrin: Roll on June 20th!!!!!

We're in same boat with our two cats....but agree with Jzombie that I don't think there is a tremendous amount of profit margin in it for the shippers.....the biggest two expenses are quarantine and the actual flights. It's an incredible amount of money, but I don't think I could trust myself to carry out all the paperwork side in case something went wrong!

Cheers for all the replies, guys :biggrin: Still procrastinating on what to do!! We too were going to book the Pan Pacific and was disappointed to see it was closed! If we do go for it, we'll probably go with the Ibis in Category B - ok it'll be a generic ibis, but its the highest rated on tripadvisor out of all the hotels in the lower 4 categories. Dilemma is.... Straight flight is working out at approx £550 each.....if we do 24hr stopover, the flight price increases slightly (to account for the 'stop') so it, added to the stopover stay, puts the prices up to £630 each.... Stopover would be us arriving in Singapore at about 6pm, and leaving next night about 9pm....is it really worth it for an extra £80 each?! We're now thinking of going straight through but upgrading to extra leg room on both flights (OH is 6'2"), which works out about US$200 total or £62.50 each extra....add on maybe £8 each to use the transit hotel's pool and showers (and free drink lol), and its almost the same. So extra legroom and quick refresh, or a jet-lagged nosey round Singapore......decisions decisions!! lol :eek:

Ok, perhaps I'm just having a blonde moment, or perhaps after spending days looking for flights, my brain has finally packed in but..... Does anyone know how to book a Singapore Stopover Holiday on a one-way ticket on the Singapore Air website??? :confused: On this page - http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/special-offers/landingpage/ - it says, "Singapore Stopover Holiday To book, buy an online air ticket on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir and include a Singapore Stopover Holiday. When making your flight booking, please ensure that you select a multi-city itinerary with stopover(s) in Singapore, en-route to your final destination." Ok thats fine, but when you go through the whole process, I cannot see anywhere to book the stopover before paying for the flight?! Do you have to book your multi-trip flight first, then login to your booking and then add the holiday part? Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated before I bang my head off the nearest wall lol :arghh:

I was just about to post the exact same thing! (well almost the exact same lol :biggrin: ) We are going Dublin to Melbourne, already contacted SA about the extra baggage allowance as I was worried about the Dublin-London route not being covered as its by another carried, but in their e-mail they said we are entitle right through providing its all on one ticket. That was fine...until we decided we might want to to a stopover in Singapore now!! I'll drop them another e-mail to see what the score would be with this, but keep us posted on how you get on!!